8 Jul 2026 20:12
Microsoft’s Xbox to Shift Obsidian Studio to New ‘Fallout’ Video Game
The layoffs at one of your studios most able to ship games is a bonkers, stupid decision; but pivoting Obsidian to making a new Fallout game is a good business decision if you don't care about what your creatives feel led to create.
It's gotta really suck to be some employee at a cool studio... And then microfuckingsoft buys it. I'd be wicked pissed at whoever made that decision.
I don't know why you'd want to work at Bethesda these days, but Id Soft does not deserve to be in that spot.
Stoked Obsidian gets to do a proper title though. I hope they can use a different engine this time.
I don't know why you'd want to work at Bethesda these days, but Id Soft does not deserve to be in that spot.
Stoked Obsidian gets to do a proper title though. I hope they can use a different engine this time.
8 Jul 2026 20:21
Honestly I am surprised they didn't do this years ago. It makes sense to let the studio that made the best Fallout game continue making Fallout games while the other studio works on the long-neglected Elder Scrolls 6. Otherwise we'd just be looking at decade-long droughts between Elder Scrolls and Fallout games at the pace BGS develops.
8 Jul 2026 20:28
Someone with that skill set who wants to keep making games, looking for any port in a storm.
8 Jul 2026 20:37
New Vegas Fans: “We want Obsidian to make Fallout again”
_Monkeys paw curls_
_Monkeys paw curls_
8 Jul 2026 20:43
Yup.
With the crazy number of layoffs from the AI frenzy... for those people, some money is better than no money. Even if the job won't be there in 6 months.
With the crazy number of layoffs from the AI frenzy... for those people, some money is better than no money. Even if the job won't be there in 6 months.
8 Jul 2026 20:45
I feel obligated to point out that this won't be the same Obsidian who made New Vegas. Same company, but (mostly) not the same devs or the same leadership.
Though I'm a little hopeful that Josh Sawyer manages to make something neat.
Though I'm a little hopeful that Josh Sawyer manages to make something neat.
8 Jul 2026 20:54
And people will talk themselves out of enjoying a game for that, too.
8 Jul 2026 20:56
Eh, it's the circle of life game development.
Small studio makes great games, gets bought by big studio, big studio's management flood small studio's staff, the games developed suffer, big studio makes cuts firing almost everyone who was worth a damn, small studio shambles on in name only for a while longer before being mercifully put down. Meanwhile some of the fired devs band together creating a new small studio which makes great games, attracting the attention of a big studio...
Small studio makes great games, gets bought by big studio, big studio's management flood small studio's staff, the games developed suffer, big studio makes cuts firing almost everyone who was worth a damn, small studio shambles on in name only for a while longer before being mercifully put down. Meanwhile some of the fired devs band together creating a new small studio which makes great games, attracting the attention of a big studio...
8 Jul 2026 21:27
The entire games industry, and software development in general, is unstable right now. The few companies that are still stable aren't hiring. If you have a job, you try to keep it. Because trying to get a new job will be an absolute nightmare. I'm in that situation myself right now.
8 Jul 2026 21:28
Sometimes, people leave a company and move to another one, only for that first company to buy the company they moved to...
Knew someone this happened to.
Knew someone this happened to.
8 Jul 2026 22:55
Anecdotally, I was illegally fired by Microsoft in December 2024 because I helped form a massive union earlier that year. I want my job back because I want a union contract.
I have friends at Zenimax that stayed because they have a union contract. There are currently 14 unions at Microsoft actively negotiating for their first contract. The thousands of people who are protected by a union stay because they have a union.
I have friends at Zenimax that stayed because they have a union contract. There are currently 14 unions at Microsoft actively negotiating for their first contract. The thousands of people who are protected by a union stay because they have a union.
8 Jul 2026 23:03
Especially since Bethesda's Fallouts suck because of the thing that makes TES great - what they do is power fantasy. That's great for Nirn, since you almost always turn out to be some sort of demigod anyway. But a post-apocalyptic RPG? You're meant to be scraping by in dirt. Sure, let the player become a wasteland badass, but not godlike. That sucks.
8 Jul 2026 23:22